UNCASVILLE — The new voice of the Connecticut Sun was finally heard Thursday, but it didn't say much other than to ask for trust in the new karma being infused into the WNBA franchise. Those whispers were then echoed by team management.

After being named the second head coach in Connecticut Sun history, Hall of Famer Anne Donovan couldn't offer any substantive reasons or insight just yet as to why the team would be better under her leadership than it was under the successful 10-year reign of her predecessor, Mike Thibault, that seemed to lack only a championship.

"I have not had much of an opportunity to get to know the girls yet so I can probably better answer that question as we get further along," Donovan said.

"What I can tell you is that it is not far off, and I believe that maybe with a different voice and different experiences and hopefully a different mindset will help."

Team general manager Chris Sienko explained metaphorically that the team's players were like kids brought up by good parents who just needed to hear the same things from someone else.

"For 10 years with the same voice it was fine, but you all know how it is," Sienko said. "You look at things differently and you hear different stories. From our perspective there is no ill will toward Mike. He did a great job. But for us, we wanted our players to have something said or done differently to hopefully motivate them a different way to help us get to the next step."

Sun CEO Mitchell Etess said that from the time the team fired Thibault in mid November, Donovan was the clear-cut top choice based on the fact that she was a national player of the year as a college player at Old Dominion and a championship coach at both the WNBA and Olympic level.

"We wanted someone who had won and had the credentials to get the belief of the team," Etess said. "It wasn't what Mike didn't have. It was just a matter of feeling we needed to go in a different direction to get to the next level. She has that winning attitude and that winning experience. We believe she can instill confidence in the team.

"She definitely has an intangible we believe can get to the next level."

Sienko said Donovan, 51, provides subtle changes.

"She is a calm presence," he said. "I think she is very strategic. I think she plays a little more defense, and I think she is going to be very aggressive when it comes to how do we go after and attack teams."

Donovan admitted she won't really attack her new job until she is done with her old one. She is currently the head women's basketball coach at Seton Hall and will remain so through the end of the season. She has a 21-53 record in two-plus seasons with the Pirates.

She said she will embrace the pressure of going from Seton Hall to a place where Thiibault was fired despite a regular season winning percentage of .592 (181-125) and playoff appearances in eight of his 10 seasons, including two WNBA Finals appearances.

"Pressure is something I enjoy," Donovan said. "At the same time, there is tremendous confidence with my background, my experience and having won a WNBA championship.

"Having some idea of what it takes, I am respectful knowing you can line all the ducks up and one duck can fall aside and things can go awry. It is my job to make sure we keep the ducks lined up and match down that championship road."

Donovan actually had a worse winning percentage (.527, 167-150) in her 10 WNBA season with Indiana, Charlotte, Seattle and New York, and she made only seven playoff appearances. She did, however, win one of her two Finals appearances, ironically over the Sun in 2004 while coaching Seattle.

And as fate would have it, perhaps what separates her WNBA legacy from Thibault's is not coaching instinct or strategy, but rather one missed shot by Nykesha Sales at the end of Game 2 of the best of three series that could have won the championship for the Sun.

"I remember it like it was yesterday," Donovan said. "With expletives my mouth going, 'Oh no.' Because as I stood on the baseline opposite of where she took that shot, it looked like it was good. We came out of that timeout talking about 'Get the foul. We have one foul to give.' We didn't get the foul. We switched on the screen we weren't supposed to switch on and the player who had killed us all game long gets a wide open look.'

Seattle went on to easily win the third and deciding game and give Donovan the voice to trumpet herself as a champion.

Follow Us

Post a reader comment

We encourage your feedback and dialog. Please be civil and respectful.If you're witty, to the point and quotable, your reader comments may also be included on the Around the Towns page of The Sunday Republican. Readers must be registered and logged in to post comments on the site. Registration is free. Click Here to register.
A Subscription is not required to post comments only a Registration.